'Forgotten man' to become Vt. auditor

Nov. 7, 2012

Written by

Free Press Staff Writer

Major-party status

The Liberty Union Party appears to have won enough votes in Tuesday’s election to earn major-party status in Vermont in the 2014 elections, joining the Democratic, Republic and Progressive parties. A party needs to win 5 percent in a statewide election to gain the status for the next cycle. Liberty Union Party candidate Mary Alice Herbert won 13 percent in the race for secretary of state. She was the only other candidate besides incumbent Democrat Jim Condos. Liberty Union last had major-party status in 2008. Progressives secured their major-party status through Cassandra Gekas, the Progressive/Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor. She received 40 percent of the vote. Her tally counts for Progressives because she listed that party first. Major-party status brings benefits and challenges. Generally, it means candidates are invited to debates. It also means the party has to go through a primary to determine its candidates, which means the 2014 primary will likely have four ballots for voters to choose from.

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Doug Hoffer was an especially popular guy Wednesday. Winning will do that.

The state’s brand-new auditor-elect received a 5 a.m. email from departing Auditor Tom Salmon, congratulating him on his victory in Tuesday’s election and inviting him to meet the staff. The day followed with a steady stream of calls.

“I keep pinching myself,” Hoffer said in an interview Wednesday.

Among those running for statewide office, he’s one whom many people hadn’t really expected to win. The thinking went that Republican Vince Illuzzi, a 32-year state senator, had more name recognition, was a more outgoing campaigner and had significant Democratic support. Hoffer defeated Illuzzi, 51 to 45 percent.

Not very many people had given Hoffer a chance of winning, Democratic Party Chairman Jake Perkinson noted on stage Tuesday night at the party’s election-night gathering.

Hoffer himself told the late-night crowd he hadn’t prepared a speech because the pundits had indicated he wouldn’t need one.

Was he surprised he’d won? “A little bit, I am,” Hoffer said shortly after he’d given the party’s final victory speech on stage. He said, however, he hadn’t counted himself out of the race. He didn’t buy the notion that Illuzzi’s name recognition extended far beyond the Statehouse.

Politically, Hoffer had help from those around him, even if it sometimes appeared that wasn’t the case. During the campaign, the Vermont Democratic Party centered its support on Treasurer Beth Pearce (who also won), while Hoffer seemed to be the poor stepchild. Though he’d been the Democrats’ candidate for auditor two years ago, he was a Democrat/Progressive with Progressive roots.

“At times, I certainly felt like a forgotten man,” Hoffer said. He added, however, that he understood. Pearce, who’d been appointed to the position, was an incumbent the party felt strongly about holding onto and she was being targeted by the political action committee Vermonters First in her race with Republican Wendy Wilton.

Perkinson said the party was behind Hoffer all the way. “I don’t think there was any sense that he was being treated as a second-class citizen,” Perkinson said. “Every time Doug came to us for something, we gave it.”

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“I didn’t ask for much,” Hoffer conceded.

Both Perkinson and Hoffer said, however, that Hoffer benefited from the Democratic Party’s deep field organization.

“I think it was a great deal of help,” Hoffer said.

He said he learned from his 2010 campaign how to better tap into that help. He visited the party’s regional campaign offices several times to meet volunteers in hopes that they would get excited about his campaign and spread the word. He also did more with social media, including Facebook and Internet ads.

A whiteboard ad he put up near the end of the campaign had 11,000 views, he said.

It was also a presidential year when 67 percent of Vermonters went for Democrat Barack Obama, and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin glided to victory.

Hoffer’s victory shouldn’t be seen as a surprise said Progressive state Rep. Chris Pearson of Burlington. “I didn’t buy the punditry at all,” he said. “Vince is very well-known to insiders, not necessarily known to the public.”

Illuzzi seemed surprised at his defeat, however. He said he thought his support from labor unions would send a message to the public that he was not a typical Republican, but it didn’t seem to be enough.

“It was a tsunami for Democrats,” said Illuzzi, who had considered running as an independent. “I can sense that running as a Republican was a real liability.”

Illuzzi said he had no regrets. “I ran a clean, issue-oriented campaign. I didn’t say a bad word about anyone.”

After 32 years in elected office, he’ll no longer roam the Senate, but he said he was ready to leave the Senate. “It was time to take a break from that,” he said. “I’m getting older. I want to spend some time with my son.”

That’s the political story of Hoffer’s election. Now it’s on to being the state’s auditor.

The auditor’s job involves examining how state money is used. The job pays $95,139 a year.

Hoffer, a self-employed public policy analyst who has done work for the Legislature, said he’s ready to shift his focus to his new job. He finished his consulting work months ago to concentrate on the campaign full-time.

Hoffer had criticized the cost of outside audits Salmon’s office oversaw. He said Wednesday he will have to look more closely at what’s behind the cost before deciding if something should be done differently.

What kind of auditor can Vermonters expect from Hoffer, who came to Vermont to work for Bernie Sanders when he was Burlington mayor and once worked for former Democratic Auditor Ed “Bulldog” Flanagan?

“It’s just going to be data-driven for Doug,” said Pearson, who called himself a “big fan” of Hoffer. “What impresses me is his ability to separate red herrings from significant issues.”

Hoffer said not to expect him to follow any political dogma. “I’m a numbers guy and that’s not just a slogan. That’s the truth,” Hoffer said.